Prevalence of angina pectoris in Spain

The frequency of coronary heart disease in a community is usually measured by myocardial infarction incidence and mortality rates. The measurement of the prevalence of angina pectoris may, however, become a convenient way of assessing coronary heart disease morbidity in the future. The aim of this s tudy was to determine the prevalence of angina and validity of the Rose que stionnaire in the Spanish population aged from 45 to 74 years. A cross-sect ional study was conducted in 10,248 subjects (45-74 years), representative of the Spanish population. The WHO Rose questionnaire was used and a constr uct validation against regional mortality rates and cardiovascular risk fac tor prevalence was devised. The overall angina prevalence increased with ag e both in men and women, but was higher in the latter (7.3% and 7.7%, respe ctively). Angina prevalence also increased with the number of cardiovascula r risk factors present and correlated with regional CHD mortality rates (r = 0.66). Sensitivity and specificity results of the Rose questionnaire were low when tested against exercise test (52.9% and 52.1%, respectively). As conclusions, Rose questionnaire is a reliable tool for assessing angina pre valence in the Spanish population which is similar to that of other industr ialized countries with higher myocardial infarction morbidity and mortality .